The travel advisory issued by the Government of the United Kingdom has been relaxed, Government Information Department said yesterday.

The earlier stated "Advice against all holiday and non essential travel to Sri Lanka until further notice" has revised to "Most visits to Sri Lanka are trouble free". This revision is now expected to enable travel agents and tour wholesalers to actively begin to sell Sri Lanka for the upcoming Winter holiday season.

There was widespread concern in the tourism industry that the Winter season will be deeply affected from the UK and the rest of the Western hemisphere as a result of the travel warnnings.

According to the Sri Lanka Tourist Board this is the best news that the industry has had so far to enable a commencement of the recovery process. The Board also expects the advisory from Germany to be relaxed within a day or two followed by several other countries. The Tourist Board with the support of the tourism industry will now launch a strong consumer campaign in the key generating markets to woo back the tourists to country.